


when the moon peach blossoms bloom

by idleoaths



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Fanart, Fluff, Found Family, Gaang is there somewhere, Gen, If You Squint - Freeform, Kyoshi Island, Minor Sokka/Suki, Suki (Avatar)-centric, not much of it though, suki gets to have moms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-27 23:14:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30130359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idleoaths/pseuds/idleoaths
Summary: Suki and her Warriors, growing up in the last years of the war.
Relationships: Suki (Avatar) & Original Character(s)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 14
Collections: MMEU Spring Equinox Exchange 2021





	when the moon peach blossoms bloom

**Author's Note:**

  * For [crashing_meteors](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crashing_meteors/gifts).



> hope you enjoy what is basically discount suki alone: flashback slice of life galore from suki's perspective AND her time at boiling rock

Suki had snuck out again tonight to see the landscape beyond the island.

She weaved through the reed grass walls of the village homes, hopping over the moon peach blossoms that peeked through the grass in the spring. Her sandals crunched over the pebbles of the trail as she danced her way to the shore, walking on top of the lying tree trunks along the edges of the path and holding her hands out to balance. Hopping down back onto the sand, she looked up. Approaching the reflections of starlight in the water, she gazed at the soft flow of the waves in front of her.

It was just as beautiful as it always was.

The little girl marched herself over to her usual spot, sitting up in front of a large boulder carpeted in algae. She sunk her hands into the dry grains of sand where she had comfortably nestled.

Suki loved looking out at the ocean. She adored the feel of the cold sand pushing up against her sandals, cooling her feet while she was settled down near the slowly drifting tides. Suki watched the dorsal fins of the elephant koi with their stark orange scales, like colorful skipping rocks, cutting through the water. Two of them jumped out of the blue depths, and Suki gasped, holding her breath in awe as she followed their trajectory, lifting themselves above the low circle of the moon. She wiggled her toes as the waves washed against the shore and the water tickled at her heels.

She laughed.

Suki threw her head back, blowing her short hair out of her face to gaze at the sky. Leaning back onto her hands, she let out a big sigh and smiled widely at the dark expanse. Above her was a canvas of brilliant blues and purples, stars shining as bright as the snow that fell when Tui remained in the sky for multiple days and nights. The sparse, wispy clouds high above were climbing atop each other, rolling fast away from Kyoshi Island.

And the stars. The stars gathered in little clusters, twinkling. The same ones that Suki gazed at from the hills where Kyoshi's shrine stood. The same ones that shone from outside the dojo that Hapo and Nanna sometimes took her to see. The same ones that she watched fade away in the morning when she lay awake on her bed beside the window.

Suki lifted her head to gaze again at the horizon. A looming figure curled around itself in front of the backdrop of the sky. The Unagi. It dived back into the ocean with an enormous splash, sending waves upon waves barreling towards the shore. Suki startled up, scrambling to climb the rock behind her to avoid the dying waves that had caught up to her spot on the now wet sand.

Watching the water crash against the boulder, Suki began humming the song that her Nanna used to sing to her after she and Hapo got home from the dojo. The girl relaxed once more against the boulder and smiled with a contented sigh. She rested her head against the palms of her interlocked fingers, getting sand caught onto her hair. Suki absentmindedly brushed it through and tried shaking it away.

The stars looked brighter now. Little tiny suns and moons floating around each other to create one big, beautiful picture.

Suki looked at her surroundings once more.

She's never felt smaller. And Suki was just there: no responsibilities or expectations. None of the pressure of becoming a future Kyoshi Warrior following in the footsteps of her mothers.

She was just…

_Suki._

She has never left Kyoshi Island. Never seen what lay beyond the reed grass with its feathery leaves, taller than her at the peak of the warm season. Never stepped foot on the land beyond the blue expanse of the oceanside. But no matter where on the Island she went, the stars followed. They were bright in the night sky when she was outside playing games with the other little village kids. They twinkled every evening on her way home from the market near the docks and harbor.

If there was one thing she could count on, it was the stars.

* * *

Here, Suki could only see the sky in the afternoons.

They never let prisoners out at night.

This sorry excuse of an island felt like a mockery of the one she had called home. She's never been very close to the surrounding lake, but it's all she can feel most of the time. The heat permeated the air of the entire compound, the humidity sticking to the clothes that they rarely allowed anyone to exchange. The threads of the fabric were stiff and colored a dull red, but still the most color Suki has seen in this entire place. The sky was drenched in a perpetual grey fog, smoking beasts rising from the boiling lake in an imitation of clouds.

And now here she was, in the dimly lit room about two wingspans apart on both sides. No windows. The metal walls took some getting used to, an environment so unlike the open waters and wide clearings of Kyoshi Island, radiating an uncomfortable heat even on some of the better days. Suki wasn't quite sure she would ever grow used to it.

She still held onto the hope she wouldn't have to.

It was getting close to nighttime, indicated by the faint sounds of two consecutive knocks against the cell doors. Suki could hear the guards making the rounds down the halls, clanging at the metal before creaking the sliding hatch on the door shut.

Suki stood in the middle of the cell, her feet shoulder width apart, trying to go through her routine evening stretches to keep her mind off of the present, attempting to settle in for what would inevitably be a restless sleep. Arms outstretched above her head and fingers clasped, she leaned to one side, counting.

_One, two, three._

She leaned to the other side.

_One, two, three._

Suki turned and glared at the door over her shoulder as she saw a little peek of the red helmets through the opening and heard the two sharp banging noises against her cell door. The remaining dim light was soon closed off. With a final _click_ that closed the hatch, Suki was left to stand in the middle of the cell alone in the dark.

Suki closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She stood with eyes still shut, listening as the knocks on the doors faded into the distance.

_One, two._

_One, two._

_One…_

Slowly, she dragged her feet to carry herself back onto the cold, hard cot on the other side of the door. The chains that held it up clinked against each other when Suki settled back down onto it.

Suki took a deep breath, grasping the edge of the cot with calloused hands. It was too dark for her to see her own feet. Lifting her legs onto the cot, she turned and pulled them up to her chest, resting her forehead against her knees. The chains creaked and groaned when she shifted to hug her knees tighter.

When her eyes adjusted to the darkness as best they could and when the only sounds outside were the faint footsteps of patrolling guards, Suki let go to lie down and face the ceiling.

She closed her eyes and hoped she would dream of the stars.

* * *

The dojo's windows were open wide, covers rolled up to the top to let in the noon sunlight. The early spring air drifted in with the sweet smell of the wild heartleaf lilies that sprouted tall beside the trees that lined the village huts.

"Knees bent, Kakula, you don't want to fall over so easily."

Suki was knelt on one knee beside the younger Kyoshi Warrior, waving her hand forward to prompt the little girl to loosen up her triangle stance.

"Good! Just like that." Suki pushed at the ground to pick herself up and ruffled Kakula's dark and wavy hair, to which the little girl shook her head with a smile.

"Don't forget to relax your shoulders." Suki rolled hers back in demonstration. "Don't be so stiff. You want to make sure that your movements flow, your muscles and joints will thank you for it. And don't forget: this position is all about balance. Try to think like an earthbender." Suki stood in front of Kakula, mirroring the stance. "Move your center to follow my center, yes, just like that. Keep a balance throughout your body, think of it as if there's a straight line going through your head, your hips and between your feet, and solidly through the ground." Suki gestured an imaginary line straight down with her hand, then relaxed from her stance to move forward and continue helping Kakula. "No, don't shift your weight like that. Lean away from your toes and back onto your heels." Suki cautiously held her hands out towards the girl as she swayed a little in an overcompensation while attempting to lean back.

"You have to be solid, Kakula. Again, think like an earthbender, keep yourself _stable._ Try to imagine it like this: if I were to push you right at this very moment, would you remain upright? Adjust your stance to make your answer a 'yes.'"

Kakula nodded, taking a few seconds to focus and do as Suki had said. The girl let out a slow breath. Suki watched as Kakula closed her eyes, gently turning her head down and shifting her weight one leg at a time.

Suki crossed her arms, remaining silent and letting Kakula focus and take her time. She listened to the morning breeze outside. The sun's rays eventually peeked out from the clouds, brightening up the room from the windows and drawing starker shadows against the mats of the dojo. Her other girls were occupied with their own routines, partnered up to practice their stances. A few seconds passed and Suki prompted Kakula, asking, "Do you think you're ready?"

Kakula replied with a toothy grin. "As ready as I'll ever be." Suki nodded and set up her own triangle stance across from her.

"Fans out."

The two of them pulled out their respective pairs of wooden fans from where they were tucked in their hakamas. Just like they had practiced days before, Kakula snapped open the fan in her left hand with a clean flick and reversed her grip on the right hand fan so that the ribs were closed and pointed away from her. Suki kept on the defense, only opening her fans halfway to keep the ribs closer together for a greater area with sturdier protection.

They exchanged handle hits with open fan blocks, Suki making sure to voice her advice as well as encouragement as she saw fit. Kakula, still new to fighting as one of the younger Warriors in the dojo, moved forward a little too eagerly.

"Move with a purpose, Kakula." Suki easily blocked her lunge with crossed fans, and pushed, causing Kakula to fall back to gather herself again to keep from falling. "Don't use all of your strength on your offensive. Find a way to use your opponent's force against them."

Suki threw out her left arm in Kakula's direction, the fan pointed out. The girl dodged below and tried to use Suki's forward momentum to trip her up and make her fall over, but Suki stepped away quickly and let Kakula's own movement drive her forward. In one quick foot sweep, Kakula fell back onto the mats.

Suki held out a hand down to help pull Kakula back up. "Nice job."

Kakula huffed, picking at her hand wraps.

"Don't start feeling discouraged. These routines take a long time to get used to and that's okay. As long as you're learning. You won't always get it right the first time. I know I didn't." Suki wiped her wrapped hands against the fabric of her hakama, stepping back. "Sometimes I still don't. And I've been doing this for years. It's part of the process. You never stop learning. Don't feel down about it.

"Come on, I think it might be a great time for just a quick break. We can go get a drink of water before we try again." Suki ruffled Kakula's hair again, resting her arm around the shorter girl's shoulders. While they walked over to the far side of the dojo where the mats ended and the benches began, Suki spoke. "And later, during lunch, I think Yū still has some maple ice candy in their stock at the market. If you finish your stew in time, we might be able to get some to share with the other girls before we all get back to training, does that sound good?"

Kakula looked at Suki with a wide open grin.

* * *

Suki was restless, doing early warmups in the darkness for what felt like hours before the sliding hatch was pulled open to let in the harsh hallway lights. She sighed, sitting back down at the cold cot hung up against one of the walls. The lamps outside were too bright for her eyes, and she rested for a few seconds with her eyes downturned, listening to the faint sound of droning machinery and the footsteps outside. She tugged on the sleeve of the threadbare clothes that felt sweaty against her shoulders in the musty air.

When she was lost in her own thoughts for too long, the only thing Suki was left to do was keep up the pretense of a routine. She doesn't know how long it's been since she ended up here, and that's something Suki doesn't wish to think much about. All that she knows is that she hates it, hates being alone.

Suki had a small window of time before she would inevitably have to do chores and leave the cell for the poorly rationed daily "breakfast" that she forced herself to eat and wouldn't have any semblance of leisure time until the late afternoon. There was no use sitting around for too long burdened with the thoughts that have consistently been plaguing her for what has felt like months, so with a resolute sigh, Suki stood up with a jump in her step. She ran through the stretches she had done earlier in the morning, letting her arms hang at her sides before shaking at her wrists to loosen them up.

_"I'll be okay."_

Suki stepped out to balance her feet apart. She twisted at her waist and swung her arms left to right to get rid of the tension in her upper body. Then she extended her elbows out at her sides and leaned down while bending her knees slightly. She kept holding her positions until she made it to three counts.

_One, two, three._

She outstretched her fingers, then closed them into a fist again.

_"Don't worry about me, okay? I'll be fine!"_

Suki slowed in her twists, opting to roll her head from left to right and back, stopping when she began to feel a little dizzy. She held her hands out a little and hung her head, closing her eyes to try and maintain her balance and calm her sense of nausea. 

_"Suki!"_

Suki opened her eyes to the brightness of the hallway lights again and took in a gasp, forgetting to breathe for a second. A wave of exhaustion overtook her and she slowly brought herself down onto the ground. She gingerly laid her palms flat on the sandpaper-like floor, legs tucked in beneath her. Suki tried to brush her hair away from her face, making a conscious effort to just breathe.

_In._

_One, two, three._

_Out._

_"You just promise me that you'll take care of yourselves. I'll come for you as soon as I can."_

She wanted to see her warriors, her _sisters_ again.

The sound of the footsteps began to feel piercing to her ears. Her own breaths sounded strained. She scratched her palms against the rough floor, bringing them up and laying them on her thighs while she clenched them and unclenched them, feeling a stinging sensation with every close of slightly shaky fists.

_"Promise me."_

Suki just wanted to go home.

* * *

"Aren't you scared?"

The iron pot clanged on the table as Suki dug it out from where it sat on the shelves stacked with other pots. After straightening it out on the counter, she turned back to speak to her cousin, Hibiki.

"I don't think we'll be gone for very long," she said with a purposefully casual shrug.

Suki turned away from Hibiki to focus back to the pot, leaning onto locked arms against the edge of the table and losing herself in thought with furrowed brows. Poneohau stew shouldn't be too hard. All vegetables, quick to make. Suki wasn't a great cook, but she thought Nanna had taught her well enough. She grabbed the cutting board and one of the cooking knives from the wall.

Suki glanced at Hibiki, who was sitting seiza, organizing the trays where she sat in front of the table. Walking over to the far side of the kitchen, Suki poured already boiled water into the pot, filling it up halfway.

"But isn't it safer here? Aren't you worried? Even just a little bit?" Hibiki placed Suki's tray down across from her.

Suki didn't immediately reply. She walked over to the far wall, reaching up to hang the metal pot against the hook on the board. She kneeled below to the dry tinder, intending to start the fire below, but hesitating for a slight second. She took a calming breath before lighting it. Sitting there, she gazed at the bright, tiny sparks flying out from below the pot and illuminating the underside.

It really has only been a month since they came and destroyed their village.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Suki heaved herself up and made her way back to the cutting board. She picked up the basket of vegetables and wild plants she and Hibiki had gathered earlier and took out the mountain asparagus shoots and burdock root, placing them onto the large wooden cutting board.

Hibiki spoke. "I've never left the Island before."

Keeping her head down to look at her hands, Suki chopped the stems and leaves of the mountain asparagus with clean and even slices about as long as her first knuckle. She worked quickly with measured downward strokes.

"Neither have I."

Scooping up the chopped pieces of mountain asparagus, Suki dropped them into the water. She held her palm above the pot, feeling the warm heat. Suki tilted her head slightly to call out behind her. "Hey, Hibiki, you want to help me with this?"

The girl rose from where she kneeled at the table, standing on the opposite side of where Suki was still chopping the vegetables.

"Here." Suki paused to untie a dark ribbon tied around her wrist and held it out to Hibiki, murmured thanks as she gathered the loose curls below her cotton headband behind her shoulders.

"Can you get the horsetail stems from the basket over there?"

Taking the stems and placing them in a line besides the cutting board, Suki chopped them one at a time at each dipped ridge. Hibiki gathered handfuls of the horsetail to drop into the pot.

The water above the fire began to bubble and steam drifted its way out of the pot.

"I talked to Oyaji already. It took a bit of convincing." Hibiki looked at her with skeptical eyes. "Well… actually _a lot_ of convincing." Suki put down the knife and turned around fully. "But don't you see, Hibiki? We can see what the world is like outside of the Island. We can help people. I've talked to some of the leaders in the other villages on the Island about it already, too. We can afford to leave once everyone is recovered and everything is restored."

Suki gestured to the corner with her elbow, hands returning to chopping the horsetail. "Wash those roots, would you? The ice water is beside the jar over there. Make sure you wash them well, and then you can get one of those knives to peel the skin."

Hibiki took the burdock roots, placing them in the basket again to wash them off there, groaning at Suki's remarks with an exasperated tone. "You're not my nanna, Suki. You don't have to tell me how to prepare roots."

Suki walked over to drop more of the horsetail into the pot before pursing her lips at Hibiki. "Hey, I'm still older than you."

"And I'm still taller," Hibiki replied with a smug grin, turning around to tilt her head up and look down her nose at Suki, her hands at her hips.

"Whatever." Suki hid her own smile, rolling her eyes.

The pair worked in a comfortable almost-silence, broken only by the distant chirps of the sparrowkeets and the buzz of the bumbleflies outside. Hibiki washed and peeled the burdock roots, gathering them in front of the cutting board where Suki had long since already finished chopping the asparagus shoots. Suki had walked over and taken a stick to tend to the fire below the pot.

Suki sighed, her soft smile dropping from her face. She gazed into the fire, speaking much quieter than she did earlier. "I guess… I guess I just feel guilty."

Hibiki stopped with her chopping, pausing where she was, her palm pressed against the blunt side of the knife. "For what?"

"For having stayed out of the war. We're safer here. Not everyone just has that choice."

For a while, only the sound of the boiling vegetables and the bubbling water filled the silence.

"...If we leave… Where would we go?"

Suki dropped the stick to the side, still watching the fire. "I think. I think we'll just go wherever we're meant to go."

Suki pushed up at the ground from where she was crouched near the fire. The poneohau stew was looking almost finished. Suki grabbed two pairs of willow chopsticks and spoons after finishing up the vegetable stew with the salt she had boiled down from the collected seawater that morning. Suki mixed the stew in the pot with a large spoon, pouring two bowls for herself and Hibiki, respectively. Below the still warm pot, they let the fire die out on its own.

With the table already set up with the trays, they placed the bowls and chopsticks down. The two of them sat seiza across from each other, reserved. Suki looked out at the windows where the sparrowkeets still sang their songs.

"It shouldn't matter if it's days away, weeks away. We'll go where we're needed."

* * *

Suki's hair tickled at her shoulders when she turned her head. It's gotten longer since she ended up here. The courtyard felt stuffy like it always did, and Suki hadn't bothered trying to stay in the glaring sunlight in the middle, opting to remain in the small shadows near the pillars holding up the compound.

After the murmurs of Aang's death in Ba Sing Se weeks ago, Suki had long since learned to ignore the whispers that drifted around the halls and courtyard, frustrated at her inability to tell whether or not they were only cruel lies and rumors.

Immediately after roll call that morning, they were all told that they wouldn't be allowed to leave their cells at all the next day. Whispers sparked around her, the firebenders in the crowd speaking of something about the anticipation of a _black sun_. Suki grew restless, shifting her weight back and forth from the balls of her feet to her heels, just so she could do _something_ instead of standing around listlessly. She drowned out their voices and let them fade into the background.

And now here she was, finding herself on the ground outside, resting her elbows against her lifted knees. She doesn't talk to anyone anymore. Suki was never that great at staying out of fights, and nobody here was quite worth her time and effort.

Staring at the billows of steam rising from the lake, Suki thought about home. She closed her eyes and daydreamed about the birds whistling up in the cherry blossom trees, the sweet smell of Nanna's fish stew after a long day of training.

_Who was she to think she could change the world?_

She imagined the quiet shore where the sand crunched beneath her sandals, the fluff of the cow parsnip that sprouted like a bunch of big red-seeded dandelions.

_She couldn't even protect her girls._

Suki opened her eyes. She didn't want to think any more about a place she couldn't go. Quietly she hummed to herself, the same song that Nanna used to sing.

_She couldn't even protect herself._

After supper and chores, Suki didn't go through her stretches that night. She simply lay there, watching the slit of light coming from the sliding hatch. When the two knocks on the door arrived and the cell grew dark, she only turned around in the cot, facing the wall.

The only good thing about the darkness was that nobody could see her tears there.

* * *

While off-duty, Suki had a lot of time to herself to wander around the nooks and crannies of Kyoshi Island.

Walking out of the dojo and into one of the adjoining private rooms, Suki untied the braided rope around her waist and leaned down to place her practice katana and fans on the high bench at the side of the room. Reaching back behind her head, she untied her golden headpiece and brushed her hands through her dark brown hair to untangle it. Suki set the shoulder plates aside, then lifted the rest of her heavy armor over her head. Unclasping the latches on her forearm guards, she slid them off and shook out her tucked in kimono sleeves to unravel them, smoothing out the wrinkles in the fabric. Taking a seat at the bench, Suki rolled up the bottom of her hakama and unfastened her shin guards hiding beneath, setting them beside the rest of her armor. With the weight of the metal lifted, Suki did quick stretches before changing out of her green kimono and hakama.

With her makeup freshly washed off and her patterned bark cloth robes adorned, Suki resolved to take a long walk, starting near the cool hills at the Island's edge. She glided through the meadows, reaching up to brush her palms on the blooming pink flowers on the tree branches scattered about the hills. Along the old oceanside trail, Suki balanced on the tree trunks that eventually led to the docks, one foot in front of the other, carefully navigating the grooves in the bark just like she did when she was younger. A group of children waved with their muddy hands towards her direction from where they were crouched at the end of the riverbank bridge, and Suki covered her laugh with a hand and waved back.

She found herself following the wooden embankments deeper into the Island, stepping around the patches of cow parsnip that sprouted as tall as her, enveloped in their large leaves. The petals of the moon peach blossoms, having peaked at the dawn of the spring equinox, stood out below, the color of the faraway ocean waves buried in the sea of green around her.

Suki's feet led her to an open clearing where Kyoshi's shrine was standing proudly in the middle. The surrounding trees have since grown leaves that were a pretty yellow-green, glistening with the early morning dew. She walked into the sanctuary that held some of Avatar Kyoshi's belongings, running her fingertips on the paneled wood tables where they were set on display. While hovering over Kyoshi's golden headpiece in the middle of the room, something in the corner caught her eyes. From the pair of far windows lighting up the interior with daylight, she saw a figure sitting outside behind the shrine, back turned away from it. Curious, Suki turned to make her way out of the small building.

Sitting in the shade of the palmate maples was one of her Warriors, Imekanu, in her own patterned robes, leaning back on her hands at the ledge above the shore. She threw her legs back and forth, back and forth, sandals dangling off of the side.

"Do you mind if I join you?"

Imekanu rocked back up from her hands and looked back at the sound of Suki's voice. She was leaning against the wooden back wall of Kyoshi's shrine with her arms crossed, smiling softly at one of her younger warriors. Imekanu returned it with her own sheepish smile and a small wave. The girl shook her head and greeted Suki, and Suki took the invitation to accompany her.

Settling down at Imekanu's side, Suki gazed at the flowers that were nestled in the wildgrass beside them. "I used to go here a lot too." Suki looked out at the distant boats and their sails out from the small island harbor.

Imekanu smiled. "It's really beautiful, isn't it? You can see everything here."

Suki hummed in agreement.

"Of course. It's the reason I kept coming back. Sometimes even when I wasn't really supposed to. My hapo especially would always notice when I was late to training after meals. She knew when I would try and finish my evening stew early just so I could explore the Island. I think I've memorized it all at this point." Suki gestured all around their surroundings. "I used to go up these hills, around the huts, and down by the shore, every day. I've even been to all of the villages on the other side." Suki looked over her left shoulder to glance at the docks under the small flowery plateau. The docks were always full of fishing and merchant boats, people constantly moving about down there— busy, restless, and always lively.

Suki gazed below the rock outcrops. "I'm surprised Hapo and Nanna weren't more worried about me getting lost."

Imekanu still rocked her feet off the ledge, relaxing into her position back onto her hands. "I wouldn't blame you for wanting to explore the Island. I think it's fascinating. Avatar Kyoshi cleared this whole landmass from the southern coast of the Earth Kingdom." Imekanu sat up to gesticulate while she spoke excitedly. "She separated an entire peninsula from the mainland, and now it's had centuries to develop separately from the rest of the Earth Kingdom, save for interactions at the ports and harbors. Not just our culture and traditions, but the flora and the fauna would probably be different from anything we'd expect to see in the mainland."

Suki smiled at Imekanu's admirable interest in the history of the Island, lying back in the vibrant, grassy clearing with her hands behind her head.

"Suki. Suki, we're following in the footsteps of so many Kyoshi Warriors. Can you imagine just how many generations? Protecting this Island, keeping it safe for so many years?" Imekanu looked back where Suki lay. "Do you think that Kyoshi would be proud of what we've done here?"

Suki sat up on her elbows. Her voice was soft as it carried in the air.

"I hope so."

Letting out a slow sigh, Suki rested her head once more against the blades of green, looking up at the yellow leaves that were just beginning to grow. She was feeling contemplative as she watched the wind flutter the leaves above her and tickle her cheeks where she lay on top of a bed of grass and flowers.

"When you're up here, Imekanu, do you ever feel… small? Like nothing up here matters, and everything you've ever done is just insignificant because you just can't begin to imagine how big this world is, how old it is? How many people have lived their entire lives before we were even thought of?"

Imekanu replied under her breath, hands picking at the moon peach blossoms by her side. "Sometimes. Sometimes the thought of that is scary."

Suki closed her eyes and lied in silence for a few minutes. "You know, when I was younger, Hapo used to tell me something that all the Kyoshi Warriors used to learn by heart when she was still here. She always told me that to be a warrior, you must be willing to stare death in the face for those you are protecting and not be afraid." Suki sat up fully, opening her eyes to look out at the glistening waves. "But I think… I think that to be afraid… is okay. It's okay to be afraid. It doesn't prevent you from being capable as a warrior so much as it just makes you _human_. And that's okay." Suki settled a hand on Imekanu's shoulder.

"...Do you think Kyoshi was ever scared?"

Suki paused in contemplation. "I'm not sure if I can quite speak for her, but I'm sure she was… Sometimes." Suki rested her hand back down at her side. "The Avatar is a human, too. I don't think we should forget that."

"...Do you ever feel scared?"

"Of course. Sometimes our job can be really scary. Sometimes I worry about you all, and your safety. But I know that just because we're here to protect our village and the people in it, that doesn't mean we aren't here to protect each other too." Suki bumped her shoulder against Imekanu's as she said this, looking at her with an encouraging grin before gazing back out into the ocean with its rocking boats.

"You and the other girls, you're all my family. I don't think I could stand to leave any of you alone."

* * *

Fire Nation ships weren't the ideal mode of transport considering the last time a ship like this parked itself at the coastline of Kyoshi Island, but Appa wasn't going to be able to give everyone a ride, and Suki was certainly not willing to leave her warriors behind again. Airships were absolutely out of the question at Toph's demand as well, and Suki silently agreed with her on that. Before they all departed, Sokka had offered to accompany Suki and her Warriors the way she had done with Sokka's family and friends in the tense weeks before the Comet.

_"You and Katara have a family and village to go home to, Sokka. And I do too."_

The war was over, and they were all going to be okay.

They had time now, there was no need to rush things. They would see each other again.

They were all going to be _okay_.

The group had spent weeks recovering, packing up and getting ready to leave once they had supported Zuko at his coronation. And every single day, Suki stayed up to watch everyone, protect them like she was compelled to do.

\---

She accompanied Sokka and Aang on some of their better days. The two of them were still confined to bed rest, and had since taken to learning pai sho to occupy their time. She sat on the side of Sokka's bed, helping move around the pieces on the wooden board that sat between their beds. After a while, they began making up their own rules.

_"You can't move there, Aang, that's too many spaces."_

_"I can now!"_

Suki laughed, still moving their pieces.

\---

Evenings were reserved for some time with her Warriors. They shared stories at each others' bedsides, talking about good things, the memories created that summer that they were fond of. They spoke of the tacky outfits they wore at Full Moon Bay while they worked to guide people to the ferries going to Ba Sing Se and not the red prison rags they were forced to wear for months. They reminisced about their time gathering berries together in the woods and never of the nightmares that plagued them in those cells.

And at the end of the night, Suki remembered to hug each and every single one of the girls she called family, and never forgot to tell them just how much she cared about them.

\---

After, she made it a routine to stop by the other kids, where Katara was always the last one awake. Sleepy eyes always looked over at the door frame where Suki peeked to check in on them.

_"I can watch over them, get some rest, Katara. If you really want to, and if it makes you feel better, we can set up shifts."_

The girl was always too worried for her own good. She was just a kid in a world that forced her to grow up too early. 

They all were.

\---

Toph was the one who would consistently wake up in the middle of the night, quietly lying in her bed and sensing Suki's presence and higher than resting heart rate. She would sit up and lie back against the headboard, grasping at the comforter on the bed.

_"Suki?"_

_"...I'm here, Toph. I'm here."_

And sometimes, just being there was enough. They would sit in the room in companionable silence, Suki simply waiting until Toph fell back asleep.

\---

Zuko had once asked to go on a walk around the palace gardens with Suki. He had wanted to properly apologize for what he had done at her village in Kyoshi, having glossed over it back at the Boiling Rock.

_"You have no obligations to accept it, Suki, I just wanted to make clear that I'm sincerely sorry for what I had done."_

_"Thank you, Zuko."_

It was a start.

\---

The moment Suki boarded the Fire Nation cruiser, she couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive, checking and searching through every single room, taking internal notes on every section of it. She wandered around, trying to think of it like it was its own little island for her to explore every single inch of.

But now she had grown more comfortable being on this ship in the open waters, and a few days' travel found themselves almost home to Kyoshi Island. It was nighttime and Suki was leaning over the high edges of the boat, by now used to the swaying after so many days at sea, staring at the island shore that was approaching quickly in the distance.

"Are you okay?" Hibiki asked as she, Imekanu, and Kakula approached her to watch the Island drawing nearer.

Suki only leaned further.

"I don't know."

"...Have you thought about…" Hibiki crossed her arms in thought. "Have you thought about maybe taking a break once we unload at home? You've been through a lot, we all have. So I think we can let ourselves rest for a few days at the _very least,_ Suki." Hibiki shook her head when Suki tried to argue. "We'll be _fine_. The village will be fine. You don't have to keep worrying about us."

Suki licked at her lips. She sighed and looked back at Hibiki with a wan smile. "I don't think I could do that if I tried."

Suki was startled as Kakula ran up to hug her from behind around her waist, her springy dark hair bouncing. Imekanu smiled, coming around to join in on the hug. Kakula called out to Hibiki, grasping at the older girl's robes to bring her in.

These Warriors were her _family_ , and Suki couldn't be any happier that they were here with her now.

Suki's voice was caught in her throat, unable to speak the words she wanted to say. Her eyes watered, and she sniffled. Suki shifted and wrapped her arms around the three of them, tears in her eyes as she gazed up at the edge of the South Sea, at the landscape of the island. She could see little fireflies glowing around the dock, their light disappearing above the grass that was still peppered with moon peach blossoms. The ocean waves blended with the late evening, a crescent moon faintly visible against the blue tapestry of the sky.

Suki was home.

And it was just as beautiful as it always was.

**Author's Note:**

> so i literally loved writing suki? and i had a lot of fun getting all of the ocs i could in this fic (also candy i would love to hear more about your ocs in particular, i was out here writing about those warriors with only names and a one sentence description of them so share your thoughts on them pls i'm excited to know more)


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